


baby you don't gotta fight (i'll be here til the end of time)

by therestisconfetti



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, britt defending her gf bc she LOVES her, i'm SOFT, those in between moments we don't see in the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27067864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therestisconfetti/pseuds/therestisconfetti
Summary: She sees red for all of last period, a strange twinge of pain in her chest because all these people think they know Santana but they’re all wrong.or: three times Brittany tells people they've got Santana all wrong and the one time she tells Santana
Relationships: Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce
Comments: 8
Kudos: 110





	baby you don't gotta fight (i'll be here til the end of time)

**Author's Note:**

> title from sofia by clairo 
> 
> (because I am once again obsessed with it after its revival on tiktok and also, you can't tell me this isn't a song brittany would've sung to santana in s2/early s3 if it was around during that time)

**i.**

Breaking up with Artie hurts more than it should. It hurts because he called her stupid, but mostly it hurts because she picked him over Santana and it feels obvious now that she made the wrong decision.

Artie was nice and sweet and talked about feelings and Brittany liked the stability that came with him because with Santana, she never knows what she’s going to get. But the one thing Artie hadn’t ever done was call her stupid - and to call her stupid when it came to her and _Santana?_ Well, that was just an extra slap in the face.

It’s no surprise she runs to Santana as soon as it happens. She half expects her best friend to say something along the lines of “I told you so” and try to brush it off like it hadn’t even happened, but as soon as Santana sees her, tears running down her face, the brunette softens almost immediately. Brittany collapses into her arms, and Santana doesn’t say anything mean, she just promises it’s going to be okay and takes her to the bathroom to clean her up.

“You’re a genius, Brittany,” she murmurs as she wipes a wet paper towel across her cheeks. “Don’t let any stupid boys tell you any different.”

Santana is tender and warm in moments like these. Her voice is quiet and she looks at Brittany as if she is the most precious thing in the world.

In moments like these, it is difficult to wrap her head around the fact anyone could think Santana is anything but what’s right in front of her.

“Thank you,” she murmurs when Santana tosses the paper towel away.

Santana turns back to her, reaching over and tucking Brittany’s hair behind her ears. Brittany leans into her touch and hopes she never forgets how it feels to be taken care of by Santana Lopez.

“All better,” she hums in response with a small smile, one that’s always been meant for Brittany.

Santana doesn’t really leave her side in the days that follow. Brittany kind of loves it; it feels like how things used to be, before things got weird and complicated and they were angry with each other. She feels like she can breathe again, the way they fall into step and Santana gently says mean things about Artie to make her laugh, even just a little.

In the quiet of Brittany’s bedroom, they don’t do much outside of fall asleep to the sound of each other’s breathing, Santana’s wraps wrapped around Brittany. They don’t sleep together, not in _that_ way, and Brittany knows Santana is trying to give her time to heal. Brittany falls in love with Santana a little more for knowing exactly what she needs.

With Santana by her side, Brittany can hardly even remember why she ever put Artie before her best friend.

But Artie finds her in the one instance she’s without Santana, and Brittany is looking for a way out, but the hallway is almost empty and she’ll feel bad if she literally runs away, so she stays put and faces him head on.

“Brittany, I’m really sorry,” he starts, and Brittany resists the scoff that bubbles in her throat. “I was frustrated and angry and I didn’t mean to take it out on you like I did.”

Brittany shrugs. “But you still called me stupid, Artie. Whether you meant it or not, you said it and that’s not okay.”

Artie looks away guiltily. “I know, it’s not okay at all and I wish I didn’t say it.”

She almost feels bad for him, the way he looks like he’d do just about anything to take back that argument, take back those words. She _almost_ does, but then she remembers what he said about her best friend, the way he made her sound so heartless.

“I don’t like the way you talked about Santana,” Brittany adds. “You make her out to be such a bad person - everyone does. They think she’s some heartless bitch with an agenda, but she’s not.”

Brittany is gaining momentum now, something inside of her aching for Artie to understand. She wants Artie to know the Santana she does, the one who laughs at all of Brittany’s jokes and helps her with her homework without hesitation. She wants him to know the Santana that dried her tears and told her she’s a genius.

She sighs. “Santana’s my best friend. She’s not perfect, but she isn’t what you think she is. If you knew the side of Santana I do, you’d get it.”

Artie looks at her curiously, as if he can’t quite understand what she’s saying. So Brittany presses harder.

“Santana understands me better than most people,” she continues, a ghost of a smile on her face. “She knows the world works a little too fast for me. She helps me keep up. I think I’d be lost without her.”

The love that swells in her chest is almost too much to handle. She kind of wishes Santana were here, next to Artie, so she could tell her all of these things, because Santana forgets how awesome she is most of the time. Just like Santana reminds her of her awesomeness when she forgets, they balance each other out so well.

This is why Brittany looks Artie dead in the eyes as she concludes, “And Santana has _never_ called me stupid.”

Artie’s eyes go a little wide at her statement, and Brittany has to hide her proud little smirk before she’s side stepping Artie and his wheelchair and walking to class.

There is a bounce in her step the rest of the way and a smile on her face she can’t wipe off. She loves Santana so much that sometimes she feels like she’s going to explode, and she isn’t sure what the next step is for them, but she knows she’ll protect Santana as fiercely as Santana has protected her time and time again.

When she slides into her seat next to the brunette in the back of the classroom, only a minute late, Santana looks at her curiously.

“What’s up with you?” she asks, but she’s smiling at the sight of Brittany’s smile.

Brittany only grins at her, tucking her ankle behind Santana’s under the desks as she says, “Nothing, just happy you’re my best friend.”

Santana’s smile widens and her cheeks flush just a little, and Brittany takes in the look she’s giving her.

Yeah, she wants everyone to know the softer side of Santana, but maybe this look should be reserved just for her, Brittany decides.

* * *

**ii.**

When Santana doesn’t show up to history class, Brittany knows something is wrong.

They drove to school together today, and if Santana feels like skipping class, she always sends Brittany a text or catches her in the halls. But when Brittany checks her phone under the table when the teacher isn’t looking, there are no texts from Santana at all.

It’s almost the end of the day, and Santana definitely wouldn’t leave Brittany stranded by herself because they still have Trouble Tones rehearsal and Cheerios practice. It worries Brittany, and she bounces her leg up and down underneath her desk until she overhears a conversation from two kids in front of her in hushed whispers.

She hears _Finn Hudson_ and _Santana Lopez_ and _coming out of the closet_ and _that Brittany girl_ \- as if she isn’t literally sitting right behind them - and it’s making Brittany’s jaw work and she _really_ wants to punch Finn.

But she has to find Santana first.

Brittany’s hand shoots up like adrenaline, making an excuse about not feeling well - partial lie - and earns a slip to go to the nurse. 

It takes Brittany ten minutes to find Santana. After multiple bathroom searches, she finds Santana on the opposite end of the school, locked in a stall.

“San? It’s me, Brittany,” she says out loud. “We’re alone in here.”

Santana sniffs and unlocks the door, swinging it open to reveal the brunette sitting on the lid of the toilet sobbing.

“Oh honey,” she murmurs, immediately dropping her binder and crouching down and pulling Santana into her arms.

She lets Santana cry as long as she needs to, murmuring assurances in her hair and kissing her temple.

“Finn Hudson is a stupid boy,” Brittany tells her when Santana’s tears finally subside.

She pulls away so she can look at Santana’s face and wipes away a stray tear. Santana looks at her through puffy eyes and there is that same scared, insecure look she used to wear for most of last year.

“I love you, Santana,” she states, taking Santana’s hands in hers. “I love you so, so much and nothing anyone says will change that.”

Santana sniffs and she does her best to smile as she says in a croaked voice, “I know, Britt-Britt. I know.”

“He said awful things to you,” she continues, one hand reaching to tuck a stray piece of hair out of Santana’s face. “But don’t for a second think they’re true. You’re awesome, San. Don’t make him think you’re any less awesome than you really are.”

Santana sighs softly before pulling Brittany into a hug and murmuring a soft, “I love you so much.”

They spend the rest of the class period in the bathroom cleaning up Santana’s face. Brittany makes her laugh by telling her stupid things that happened during her day and she feels like the luckiest person in the world every time she hears Santana laugh or sees her dimples when she smiles. When the bell rings, Brittany kisses Santana’s forehead one last time before walking her to class and making it on her own with the promise of seeing her for Trouble Tones rehearsal.

Brittany spends her entire last period thinking of Finn and his mean words and how, honestly, he kind of deserves what Santana’s been putting him through. It makes her angry, the way Finn thinks he knows Santana. She sees red for all of last period, a strange twinge of pain in her chest because all these people think they know Santana but they’re all _wrong._

So when Brittany sees Finn on his way to the choir room after the final bell rings, Brittany can’t help herself.

“How dare you,” she practically growls, approaching him head on.

Finn looks caught off guard, a confused look in his eyes. He walks backwards as Brittany approaches until they are in a quieter corner of the hall, without curious ears. 

“What’s going on?” Finn asks carefully.

“You said all those mean things to Santana,” Brittany accuses with a glare.

Finn throws his hands up immediately, standing up a little taller. “Hey, she’s been ripping me a new one for like a week!”

“That doesn’t mean you can say what you did,” Brittany points out, her voice even but her eyes are ice cold and she knows it. “You can’t just _say_ things like that in a hallway, Finn.”

“Then she should stop bitching me out all the time,” Finn argues with a scowl.

It makes Brittany angry, the way he can’t see how wrong he is. She takes a step closer to him.

“Don’t talk to Santana like that ever again,” she presses in a low voice. “You don’t know the first thing about her or me.”

Finn seems a bit surprised by Brittany’s entire demeanor, but he isn’t backing down.

“I think I know her pretty well,” Finn counters. “She’s mean and cruel for no reason. Come on, Brittany, you know that.”

Brittany’s chest aches with anger and sadness, with frustration and longing. She _knows_ Santana is trying so hard to show her awesomeness one hundred percent of the time. She _knows_ Santana doesn’t mean half the things she says when she lashes out. She hates the way everyone else writes her off right away.

“You are so wrong about her, Finn. I know Santana,” she starts carefully, her voice softening as she fiddles with the straps of her backpack. “I know she is brave and strong. I know that when she’s sad or hurting or scared, she gets mean - _really_ mean sometimes. She doesn’t mean it most of the time. It’s just where she automatically goes because it’s a familiar and safe area for her. She lashes out because she’s uncomfortable or she’s afraid but she doesn’t want you to know it.”

Brittany takes another step forward, poking Finn lightly in the chest.

“And _you_ went to the one place you shouldn’t, the one place Santana is working so hard on. You have no right to talk about any of those things when it comes to her, and you have no right to tell her she’s afraid I don’t love her back.”

Finn looks at her quietly, a mix of cluelessness and intrigue in his eyes. She knows he’s hanging onto every word, so she continues.

“Because the truth is I love Santana more than I love anyone else in the world,” Brittany says quietly, and she can’t help the smile on her lips. It feels good to say it out loud, even if it’s just to stupid Finn Hudson and his empty brain.

She continues, “I don’t think I can love anyone or anything more than I love her, even Lord Tubbington. I love Santana in all the ways it’s possible to love someone. So don’t _ever_ let her think differently again, okay?”

Her wide, blue eyes look at him expectantly, and he gives a small nod.

“I didn’t know…” he starts, but Brittany finishes for him.

“That’s right, you didn’t know, Finn. You didn’t know and you will never know because you clearly don’t understand Santana at all.”

Finn looks like he wants to say something, but Rachel’s voice cuts him off.

“Finn? We have to get to glee.”

Rachel gives the two of them a quizzical look, but before she can ask any questions, Brittany begins to walk away.

“Just be more thoughtful,” Brittany tells Finn before she goes, turning the corner.

She feels lighter as she moves, less angry than she was before. She knows at the end of the day, Finn is just a dumb boy who doesn’t know what playing with fire will do to you. He didn’t mean to hurt Santana the way he did, but she couldn’t let him get away with it.

This year, Santana walks with more pride and self confidence than Brittany’s seen in a long time. She looks happier and Brittany loves the idea that she’s played a part of that, that she’s helped Santana’s insides match her outsides. Santana is so close to being where she wants to be, so close to being able to call Brittany her girlfriend to anyone who asks and do things like go on dates and take each other to dances, and Brittany is right there with her, patient as ever.

Finn and everyone else just don’t understand.

But Brittany _does,_ especially when she walks into rehearsal and the girls are singing Katy Perry and Santana is pulling her by the arm to dance with them.

Santana isn’t not ready, not yet, but here in the safe space of the Trouble Tones, it is easier to be themselves. Brittany twirls Santana around as they laugh and when Ms. Corcoran calls them to gather around the piano, they link pinkies and don’t let go.

* * *

**iii.**

Getting to New York only to find that Santana is actually in Reno shooting a commercial kind of sucks, but it _is_ kind of nice to see all her friends again.

Rachel and Kurt don’t even consider any other option, telling Brittany she can stay with them even without Santana around, and with Mercedes, Blaine, Sam and Artie around, it’s like a little piece of home is here with them. It’s like a big reunion and Brittany knows the only person missing is Santana.

“She’ll be back before you know it,” Rachel assures her with a smile and a supportive squeeze.

Rachel and Kurt take Brittany and Mercedes to the Spotlight Diner, where the two of them and Santana used to work. Kurt insists the food isn’t _that_ great, but Rachel tells him they need to show their friends the old stomping grounds.

It’s still so weird to know they practically lived two separate lives without each other for so long, and she kind of wishes Santana was _here_ with her, but there is something about the way she and her friends fall into such a familiar rhythm that makes Brittany feel at ease in a city that moves so fast and without warning.

Brittany’s filling them in on a story from her and Santana’s vacation when she watches Rachel tense and Kurt’s smile fall. Frowning, she pauses in her story and tilts her head.

“What’s wrong?” she asks.

“We definitely forgot to check the work schedule,” Kurt almost singsongs in a quiet voice.

Mercedes looks equally confused, so Brittany turns around only to find the one person she never thought she’d actually ever see face-to-face.

“Is that…?” Mercedes begins, but Brittany is already nodding.

“Dani,” she confirms.

She’s never even met Santana’s ex-girlfriend - it still feels weird to give her that title, to remember there was a time Santana had another serious girlfriend besides her - but she knows it’s her from the nights she’d see a new post and recognize the hollow feeling in her chest at the sight of another girl with an arm around _her_ Santana, of the days when Kurt had a band and Santana and _another girl_ were hanging over each other in every photo.

“I’m so sorry Brittany,” Rachel begins immediately. “Seriously, we wouldn’t have come today if-”

Brittany turns back to her, giving her an easy smile that she hopes looks genuine as she says, “No worries, it’s totally cool.”

“It might not be soon,” Kurt mumbles under his breath.

Brittany’s brows furrow, but when she turns again she realizes Dani is headed straight towards _them_ and she watches the smile drop from her face, an uneasy look resting there instead as she approaches. But just as quickly as it drops, a new smile appears and Brittany can see right through it, the way Dani is forcing herself to play her part.

“Dani, it’s so good to see you!” Rachel gushes with a little _too_ much enthusiasm.

Dani keeps her plastered smile on, only focusing on Rachel and Kurt’s side of the table.

“Rachel, Kurt,” she greets. “What brings you back to the diner? Thought you were both too big for this place now.”

There is a resentment underneath her tone, and Brittany shifts uncomfortably. She and Mercedes share a knowing glance. The look on Mercedes’ face tells Brittany she’s judging Dani so hard at the moment. She hides a smile.

“Our friends are in town,” Kurt jumps in quickly. “This is Mercedes and Brittany.”

Dani turns to them then, but her eyes are fixed on Brittany. “Oh, so I finally get to meet the infamous Brittany, huh?”

Brittany does her best not to fidget in her seat, tries to stand her ground. She hates the way Dani looks at her, like _she_ did something wrong. She hates the way Dani’s voice sounds anything but genuine. She hates, most of all, that she can’t feel Santana’s calming touch against her skin to put her at ease.

She feels everyone’s eyes on her and knows she has to respond.

“Hi,” Brittany offers, trying her best to give her a small smile. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Likewise,” Dani replies, but her tone makes it clear that she means anything but.

Rachel takes over from there, ordering for everyone and keeping Dani’s attention off of Brittany - which Brittany is thankful for - and she’s kind of thankful for the way Rachel is so _Rachel_ in this moment, because Brittany isn’t sure how to handle this.

Once Dani disappears in the back, Brittany breathes easier. It’s somewhat smooth sailing from there. Dani only comes when absolutely necessary and there’s not much conversation outside of the food and the drinks. It’s not until she’s coming around with the check that it kind of goes south.

“So where’s Santana, is she still in New York?”

It’s innocent enough, and it’s directed more at Rachel and Kurt, but Brittany is answering before she can help herself.

“She’s in Reno filming a commercial. She’ll be home in a few weeks.”

 _Home._ It feels weird to say out loud, but it feels right. Home is when they’re together. She misses the soft smile on Mercedes’ lips when she hears it.

Dani’s head whips around, and she quirks an eyebrow with a look in her eye that Brittany can’t quite place. It makes her uncomfortable.

“Way too big for this place I see,” Dani chuckles humorlessly, bitterness in her tone. “Careful, she might get a new girlfriend while she’s out there. Can’t trust Santana much, can we?”

With that, she spins on her heels and walks away. Rachel and Kurt’s jaws are dropped and Mercedes has wide eyes and looks like she might chase after Dani and have a few words. But Brittany is planted to her seat, a feeling swirling at the bottom of her stomach.

“Britt…” Kurt starts, but there is nothing else that follows.

Brittany shakes her head, eyes focused on the door to the kitchen where Dani disappeared. “You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up in a few.”

Her three friends exchange glances, but Brittany doesn’t see. There is anger bubbling up inside of her. Yet another person has written Santana off, and this one’s personal. It’s not a stupid boy at all, but it’s someone who Brittany thought knew Santana better than most.

(But not better than her. Never better than her.)

“We’ll wait for you outside,” Merecdes tells her with a supportive squeeze of her arm before sliding out of her seat.

Kurt and Rachel follow suit, but not before giving Brittanny one last concerned look. Brittany offers them a reassuring smile before her eyes are back on the door. She waits another moment before Dani is walking out the doors and suddenly Brittany is sliding out of her seat and rapidly approaching her.

“We need to talk.”

Dani looks a little bewildered with a wild Brittany in front of her, but she isn’t fazed. She just raises her eyebrows, like she can’t be bothered with any conversation with Brittany.

“About what?” she asks. “About how your girlfriend is nothing but a selfish bitch?”

Brittany’s chest rises with seething anger, her instinct to protect Santana kicking in. She hates how Dani doesn’t know Santana at all. After months of dating her, she still doesn’t know anything about Santana when it comes down to it.

“She’s not,” Brittany says evenly. “If you know anything about Santana you know she isn’t that.”

Dani snorts. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Brittany works her jaw, trying her very best not to snap as she continues, “You’re still angry. Frankly, I think you have a right to be angry-”

“Thanks,” Dani deadpans with a scoff.

“-but if you’re going to be mad at anyone, it’s not Santana. You’re mad at me.”

“I don’t think you can tell me who I’m mad at.”

“If I had never opened my mouth back in Ohio, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Brittany explains. “I put Santana in that position, me.”

“She still chose you,” Dani points out angrily. “She chose you and dumped me over the phone. You can’t tell me she isn’t a bitch for that, Brittany. Even _you_ have to know, at the end of the day, Santana is nothing but a selfish bitch.”

Brittany shakes her head, a scoff leaving her lips because she can’t quite believe this. “You don’t know her at all, do you? You dated her for months - she opened up to you in a way that is so incredibly difficult for her - and you still never really knew her.”

Brittany softens as she says, “Santana has the biggest heart. She hates showing it, but sometimes, it’ll slip and you’ll see just how much of a good person she is. When she’s scared, that’s when she gets cold and mean and says things she might regret later. But she’s human, you know? Like you and me. She’s human and she makes mistakes, and she never meant to hurt you the way she did.”

She lets out a sigh, shaking her head. Brittany thinks back to Santana’s bedroom and the tears that followed the phone call and how Brittany held her until the tears finally subsided, only because Santana had fallen asleep.

“Honestly, breaking up with you hurt her a lot, more than she’ll ever admit to me. She was starting a new life and I came back out of nowhere. She cared about you, so much. Ending things wasn’t easy for her at all, but I don’t regret opening my mouth,” Brittany admits, her eyes wide and honest.

“I caused her so much pain that week, so much confusion and frustration. But I don’t regret it because Santana is _it_ for me and I’ll fight for her no matter what. I will fight for Santana’s big, generous heart and the way her eyes light up when someone reminds her how easy it is to love her - how _I_ remind her how much I love her.”

Brittany feels the way her chest swells at the thought of Santana, of the way Santana’s eyes shined the first time Brittany said _I love you_. Dani just looks at her, arms crossed as she goes on.

“I’m not apologizing for what I did,” Brittany concludes. “So please, if you’re going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me.”

Brittany lets out a quiet breath by the end of it. She feels somewhat lighter now, even though she knows this probably doesn’t change anything. Dani looks unmoved, her eyes calculated and cold.

“Get out of my restaurant.”

It is quiet but strong and Brittany knows when to bow out. She can see, though, before she walks away, the way Dani’s lip quivers, how her facade breaks for just a second. It’s more than enough for Brittany, to know that Dani has listened to at least a part of what she was saying.

Brittany goes outside and finds her friends waiting for her, and they’re confused by the way she skips down the street and loops her arm through Kurt’s as they ride the subway back. But Brittany is only thinking of Santana and how far they’ve come, of how much Santana still has left to give not only to her but the world.

If other people can’t see that, screw them.

When Santana calls to check in later that night, Brittany can’t wipe the adoring smile off of her face. She says I love you at least five times and Santana laughs and asks what’s going on and Brittany just tells her how proud she is of who Santana is as a person.

 _“You’re getting all soft on me, Britt,”_ Santana chuckles.

“But I’m right,” Brittany counters smugly, and Santana only blushes and tells her to shut up. “Come home soon, please.”

Santana’s eyes shine at the mention of _home_ and she hums, _“I can’t wait to come home to you.”_

* * *

**iv.**

Being back in the halls of McKinley High feels all sorts of nostalgic.

Most days, high school feels like an entire lifetime ago. As she and Santana stroll down the empty hallway with their arms looped through each other’s, Brittany remembers a time when they were both young and naive and had so much to experience. In the forefront of her mind she sees their younger selves walking side by side down the hall, their Cheerio skirts swishing in sync as they pay attention to nothing else but each other.

Brittany wonders what their young selves would say if they could see them now, an engagement ring on Brittany’s finger and the way Santana hasn’t quite stopped smiling since she put it on weeks ago.

She turns to Santana, opening her mouth to mention something about the nostalgia of it all only to find Santana is already looking at her with a familiar adoration in her eyes. It fills Brittany’s heart up in the best of ways.

“What?” she asks with a lopsided smile.

Santana shakes her head, a smile forming on her lips as she responds, “Being back here is bringing back a lot of memories.”

Brittany’s smile widens as she leans into Santana and hums, “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

“I keep thinking...I don’t understand how I have ever deserved to be loved by you for so long.”

“Oh honey,” Brittany chuckles, tugging Santana closer to her side and pressing a kiss to her temple.

Santana’s walk slows. “No seriously, Britt. Who I was for most of high school - I didn’t deserve you at all. I was so scared and I took everything out on everyone else instead of dealing with my crap.”

They stop in the middle of the hallway, where, years ago, they would stand side by side and grab books for their next classes. Brittany turns to face Santana, brows furrowed.

“I was so mean and cold,” Santana continues with the shake of her head. “There was no reason for you to be so patient and willing to wait it out for me. I was such a bitch back then.”

There is a sadness in Santana’s eyes, one that doesn’t come often but Brittany recognizes it most when she knows Santana is thinking of her abuela, or those hard days their junior year when they didn’t speak much to each other, too busy hurting each other instead of falling into the easy rhythm they’d always had.

It makes Brittany’s chest ache in all the worst ways. What’s even worse is the way she hears everyone else’s words in Santana’s own mouth. How can Santana not know herself as well as Brittany does?

Brittany takes a step forward, shaking her head immediately as a frown appears on her lips.

“Hey - no, don’t do that,” she insists, taking Santana’s hands in hers. “You’ve come so far, you know that.”

A grimace falls on Santana’s lips as she sighs. “I know...I just - sometimes, I think of who I was and the things I did. I would’ve dropped me if I was you. Who wants to be around someone like that? Who wants to be _with_ someone like that?”

Brittany almost scowls at the way Santana talks about herself. She talks like high school Santana is so far gone, that they’re practically two different people.

They’re the same people, Brittany knows. They are the same except that the Santana in this moment is no longer afraid.

“Santana,” she murmurs quietly, taking one hand to gently brush hair away from her face. “You have always been this person. The woman right in front of me is the same girl that used to walk around these halls like she owned the place.”

A soft smile finds her lips before she continues, “I fell in love with you so long ago because I knew who you really were. You never hid that from me, remember? I always knew you had the biggest heart and cared so much about those closest to you. You were just scared back then of everything going on inside, and you would get mean when you were scared. Other people didn’t know, but I did.”

Santana looks at Brittany with wide eyes, hanging onto every single world. Brittany’s heart swells at how small Santana looks in the moment - how, just for this moment, Santana looks like she’s sixteen and afraid of all the change that’s about to come.

“You have always been one hundred percent awesome on the inside,” Brittany reminds her. “You just needed time for your outsides to match your insides, and I knew they would.”

Santana lets out a soft laugh, her eyes watering just a little. She leans forward, resting their foreheads against each other. When she lets out a soft breath, Brittany knows that sadness is gone.

“You are so strong,” Brittany tells her. “The strongest person I know, even way back then. Loving you was so easy, San - it still is. I’m just lucky you love me even in the slightest of ways.”

“I love you more than anyone,” Santana is quick to breathe out, her eyes closed as she confesses something she’s said to Brittany hundreds of times already.

It doesn’t get old for either of them, though. Brittany’s cheeks still flush.

“I know,” Brittany whispers, smiling. “And I am so lucky I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Santana smiles, wide and unreserved. Brittany can’t help but match her smile at the sight of it, and before she knows it, Santana is kissing her by their old lockers, in the middle of the hallway where they’d broken each other’s hearts and come back together so many times in the span of four years.

Brittany thinks of boyfriends and break-ups, of songs about ladies for ladies, of coming back together in the place it all started. She thinks of the ring on her finger and seeing it for the first time just down the hall, in a room where she and Santana were truly able to just _be_ themselves for the first time.

She thinks of how it’s always been _Santana and Brittany,_ never one without the other, always protecting each other no matter what.

“I can’t wait to marry you,” Santana murmurs against her lips when they pull apart for air. 

Brittany is still so in love with Santana she thinks she might explode, and she hopes that feeling never goes away. 


End file.
